Bioethanol maker fails to obtain supply contracts

Philippine ethanol supplier San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. has set aside a plan to increase its ethanol production and will instead build a 15-megawatt (MW) biomass project after it failed to secure long-term contracts from oil companies, according to local media reports. Shiva S. Mehrabi, marketing officer of parent company Bronzeoak Philippines Inc., said that they have had a hard time securing long-term supply contracts with local oil companies. Mehrabi said Bronzeoak would likely put up a 15MW biomass plant beside its existing eight MW biomass plant in Negros Occidental. “We are still looking for [buyers] of power, but we are confident that we’ll be able to have a demand with the Renewable Energy Law already in place,” she added. (January 22, 2009)